Bill would regulate ammo sales

OAKLAND -- California's ammunition sales would be regulated and tracked under a bill rolled out Monday by an East Bay lawmaker, who anticipates a tough fight from the gun lobby, legislative Republicans and perhaps even rural Democrats.

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner said 2,800 Californians were slain by gunfire last year, and "we've had enough. Buying bullets should require the same scrutiny as buying guns."

Skinner, D-Berkeley, held a news conference Monday morning outside the state office building in Oakland, flanked by local officials, community leaders, teachers, law enforcement and clergy. True Vine Ministries pastor Zachary Carey said his hometown of Oakland has seen 559 homicides in the last five years and almost 2,700 in the past 25 years, most of which involved guns.

"This is out of control," he said. "This is the first step to change California and to change the nation."

Skinner's AB 48 would require ammunition sellers to be licensed; require ammunition purchasers to show identification; require ammunition sellers to report all sales to the state Justice Department; require the Justice Department to create a registry of ammunition purchases, which would be made available to all law enforcement agencies; and require the Department of Justice to notify law enforcement of large quantity ammo purchases. It also would ban kits that convert ammo feeding devices into high-capacity magazines.

"It takes bullets to kill people with a gun, and when bullets are more readily available than Sudafed, we have a problem," said Oakland City Councilwoman-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan.

Current law requires people buying cold remedies that contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine -- which can be used as a precursor to make methamphetamine -- to show ID, and such sales are tracked.

Emeryville Police Chief Ken James, who chairs the California Police Chiefs Association's firearms committee, said "law enforcement is behind this bill, this is a very important bill."

But Skinner acknowledged it could be an uphill battle, even in the wake of mass shootings like the one last summer at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater -- where the alleged shooter had stockpiled thousands of rounds of ammunition -- and the one in December at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"Any bill like this is difficult," she said, but she's convinced she's building a coalition broad enough to overcome opposition. Asked whether she'll expect to have any Republican cosponsors, she replied, "I don't know -- we will be asking, and we'll see."

The Legislature in 2009 passed, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed, a law that would've required all handgun ammunition sales in the state be made face-to-face and include a fingerprint registration of the buyer. But the law was struck down by courts, which ruled its definition of handgun ammunition was too vague. Skinner's bill would apply to all ammunition sales.